President Ramaphosa praises role of cruise sector in SA tourism industry

South African President Ramaphosa hailed the global cruise industry as a key contributor to the South African tourism industry at the opening of the new Nelson Mandela Cruise Terminal in Durban.

The Nelson Mandela Cruise Terminal, located on Point Road in Durban will position the city and wider Kwa-Zulu Natal as a premier cruise destination alongside the best in the world, President Ramaphosa said.

“The launch of the Nelson Mandela MSC Cruise Terminal is more than a milestone,” he said, speaking at the official opening of the terminal, which was previously called the KwaZulu-Natal Cruise Terminal but later renamed.

“It is an important step towards restoring the position of this city as a premier cruise tourism destination, alongside the finest in the world,” he said.

“The latest cruise season injected an estimated R1.2 billion into the economy of the Western Cape alone and we want to see bigger numbers for here in KwaZulu-Natal,” he added. “This terminal will play an important part in doing so.”

Cape Town is South Africa’s primary cruise port in terms of cruise ship calls and ‘turnarounds’ (when cruises end and start in the same city), but Durban is the only cruise port in the country in which MSC Cruises sails a full winter cruise season.

AIDA Cruises, Silversea, Seabourn, TUI Cruises, and even Norwegian Cruise Line, have homeported in Cape Town intermittently during the annual 2023/24 season, driving up tourism revenues and job creation for the city.

The development of the Durban Cruise Terminal is expected to encourage more cruise lines to tap into the South African home market like MSC Cruises has done. Unlike Dubai and other fly-cruise destinations, the majority of passengers sailing out of Durban aboard MSC are South Africans.

More homeporting cruise lines in Durban will bring huge benefits to the local economy.

“As more cruise liners visit this city, more tourists come,” said Ramaphosa. “As part of their homeport itineraries, passengers visit local attractions, shop and spend, and more money is injected into the local economy. As a result, more jobs are created for South Africans and more local businesses supported, especially small businesses.”

“According to the Cruise Lines International Association, the vast majority of cruise passengers are inclined to revisit a destination they initially visited during a cruise. So beyond being an investment in brick and mortar, this terminal is also an investment in the future of the South African tourism industry,” he added.